Jeffrey Don Lundgren, Prophet of Death

Often we as a society cannot comprehend how individuals are so taken in by cults and religious sects. Paul R. Martin, a Ph.D. from Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center, contends that cult mind-control renders its victims virtually irresponsible for their actions or beliefs. "The process whereby he or she was drawn into the cult has a subtle but powerful force over which he or she (has) little or no control and therefore they need not feel either guilt or shame because of their experience.

 "Under mind control a man may be persuaded to believe or do things that would have normally violated his conscience. His conscience may tell him that an action or belief is wrong, but what the cult leader has persuaded him of has so strongly influenced him that it may override his conscience. He may be led to believe that the promptings of his conscience are really of his 'lower nature, 'of the flesh,' and that the mission of the group is of a 'higher purpose,' that the thoughts of his conscience are doubts that show lack of faith or signs of rebellion. Thus, he may still have a conscience, but through the powerful influence of the group, he has reinterpreted it, or reframed his moral outlook.

"Most people who join cults think they're joining a good group, a moral group, a healthy group. However, this is largely because they have not been afforded full information about the group they are joining. We would agree that those who join cults are 'guilty' of not asking all the right questions, of not examining the cult's claims thoroughly enough against the records of history and scripture, of not adequately applying the rules of logic to the group's teachings and explanations, and of not having an adequate knowledge of coercive persuasion techniques. In other words, cult recruits are 'guilty' of allowing themselves to be deceived. But is that a sin? Should we rebuke the victim of a con artist for allowing himself to be victimized? Do we blame the battered wife for falling in love with and marrying a batterer?"